Saving Grace
by SasukePrismaColor
Summary: "After nearly six years, I'm still your saving grace?" -SasuSaku- Two-shot, whoo!
1. At the Beginning

**Saving Grace**

**Summary:** There was no way Sakura could be dying. Not before he could tell her how sorry he was. Not before he could tell her that she was his saving grace. -Implied SasuSaku- Two-shot, whoo!

* * *

_Almost…_

The group of nine is silent as they move towards the battlefield. Sasuke Uchiha has no problem with the silence; it means everything is going well and no one is in trouble. No one will catch them, as everyone is at the battlefield. It was a straight shot from where they had started to the battlefield.

_A few more minutes now…_

Sasuke had been ignoring a voice in his head ever since they left. Once Karin had showed up, and he apologized, the voice showed up in his mind, pushing him. Sasuke didn't want to admit it, but the voice that kept nagging him was right.

He needed to apologize to everyone. Not just those he had hurt (Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura), but everyone he had known before he left. He may not like all of them, but it was something he absolutely had to do.

If only the guilt of all he had done wasn't weighing so heavily on his shoulders at the moment. It was making him nervous to apologize. He was worried he would do something wrong and make everyone hate him even more.

As they got closer, the voice in Sasuke's head got louder and more annoying. The nagging was becoming too much to bear with them nearing the battlefield.

'You need to apologize to everyone! Especially Sakura! All she did was freaking love you and you nearly killed her!'

_Just shut up already._

He clenched his fists as he saw the Fourth Hokage break in front, obviously sensing something wrong and going to protect whoever it was that needed help.

_Probably Naruto._

A few inches more, and they were finally at the battlefield, shocking all who were there. Those that recognized Sasuke and Orochimaru nearly for them, believing Madara and Obito had more accomplices, until they blocked off an attack from the Ten-tails toward an entire fleet of shinobi.

"Reinforcements! We have reinforcements!"

Not many people looked to who the reinforcements were, attempting to keep the Ten-tails back and on its toes, obviously having trouble.

Sasuke doesn't even have to call for the ex-Taka members to begin helping. Suigetsu has started pushing back with his sword, with Juugo doing the same with his curse mark. It barely registers in Sasuke's mind that the First Hokage has gone for Madara, while the Second and Third are busy helping.

"Karin!"

She doesn't even get away to try and help before Sasuke yells at her. "What?!"

"I need you to find some people for me."

* * *

It takes mere seconds for Karin to find them, and Sasuke is off to where the Fourth had gone. His nervousness about apologize is long gone, and has turned into anxiousness. Karin said that one of the chakra signatures was weak, and getting weaker by the second.

All he could do was hope and pray Karin mixed Sakura up with someone else. Mistakes happen, even to pros, right?

There was no way Sakura could be dying. Not before he could tell her how sorry he was. Not before he could tell her that she was his saving grace.

The guilt began eating at him again. Why didn't he say this to her when they were twelve? Why did he push her away, in an attempt to protect her? Why didn't he just accept her as someone he cared for?

_Why didn't I just stay? We wouldn't even __**be**__ in this fricking war if I had stayed!_

Guilt just loved to attack him at the worst time possible.

"Sakura, Naruto!"

Sasuke barely made it before another one of the Ten-tails attacks hit them, helping the Fourth to block it before his ex-teammates were hurt or killed by it.

Naruto and Sakura stared with wide eyes, Naruto's jaw dropping. They looked at each other, before looking back at Sasuke, absolutely shocked he had shown up.

"Sasuke!"

"Sasuke-kun…"

"Before either of you say anything else, I have to say something!"

Sakura and Naruto shut up, watching Sasuke to see if he would even turn around and look at them.

"I'm sorry for everything."

It was quiet, minus the sounds of the Ten-tails attacking and people yelling for medic nins, before Naruto smirked.

"Hehe… we'll deal with that later, buddy! For now, let's take out this freaking beast, all right?"

A smirked graced Sasuke's face as well.

"You got it."

Sakura watched for a moment, looking nervous, before she gave a bitter smile. "Sasuke-kun-"

"I want to talk to you back at the village, Sakura."

"...All right."

Not another word as said, as Naruto, Sasuke, and Minato pushed further into the battle, Sakura watching and following along as best she could without getting herself killed so she could heal them if need be.

_I do hope you mean it, Sasuke-kun…_

* * *

**Author's Note:** ALL MY HOPES, GUYS.

ALL MY HOPES.  
I want the next chapter NOW, because I want to see Sasuke, I want him to apologize to Naruto and Sakura, I want everything to be all good again. D:  
But we must suffer until next Wednesday. hurm. :/

Well, I'll post the second part tomorrow. Please enjoy!


	2. In the End

**Note:** Ve? This takes place almost six years after the previous chapter.  
Just a warning~  
**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. If I did, Sasuke would've been in this week's chapter.

* * *

It was quiet, a bit too eerie for Sakura's liking, especially for a village that was supposed to be filled with talkative people. Early in the morning had been her favorite time of day ever since the first mission Team 7 had been sent on, so long ago, nearly ten years now. Five years ago marked the end of the war, as well as Sasuke's return to the village.

_Naruto really did keep his promise._

The silence in her home made Sakura to go outside, just to hear people talking. Sasuke was still sleeping, but she had no problem with that. It wasn't even six o'clock yet, why should she wake him just because she couldn't sleep? It didn't matter to her that he was still sleeping; he needed it after being gone for nearly three months on a mission that took nearly every bit of his energy.

The mission was supposed to be a simple protection mission, but took longer when Sasuke realized something. The man his team had been sent to protect was not only a criminal who had turned his life around, but a new father as well. The man's daughter was barely six weeks old when they arrived, and Sasuke knew he couldn't let anything happen to their client.

Sasuke had just become a father himself, and he knew it wouldn't be fair to this baby girl if she lost her father because of his negligence. The letters he sent to Sakura about the missions reflected how much he missed her and their daughter. Sakura swears at least three out of the nearly forty had running ink because of tears, most likely because there were close moments when the mission took a wrong turn, and Sasuke feared he wouldn't make it back to his little family.

_But you're home now, Sasuke. There's nothing to worry about._

It made Sakura smile. Sasuke had changed so much in just a few short years. After the war ended, and Team 7 finally reunited in Konoha with, of course, a bowl of ramen from Ichiraku's, Sasuke and Sakura stayed up late at her place talking. Sasuke had apologized nearly fifty times (Sakura counted) and Sakura accepted every time. It took a long while before they were completely normal around each other again, because Sakura could feel guilt eating away at her for having tried to kill Sasuke. It took a month before she finally broke down to Sasuke, explaining her reasoning for doing so and apologizing almost as many times as Sasuke had to her (Sasuke counted this time) but he accepted once, and Sakura was fine with that.

Sasuke didn't talk much still, but he did smile more. Sakura remembers that the first time Sasuke smiled when he got back to the village was when he accepted her apologies.

It made her cry because he was so forgiving right away, like he had been thinking the whole thing over, knowing she was going to apologize at some point.

It took a year before they would confirm to people they were friend, and another year before Sasuke could admit he was falling for Sakura. Sakura still loved Sasuke, and was waiting for him to fall in love with her.

When he finally admitted it, Sakura didn't hesitate and ended up throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him. Sasuke was, needless to say, shocked beyond belief, but returned every bit of it.

Two years of dating went by before Sasuke finally asked Sakura to marry him, and again, she didn't hesitate and accepted right away.

Sakura forced Sasuke to wait another year before they were married. He sighed at first, but agreed that they should wait a year, as Sakura had just been promoted to head of the hospital, Naruto had very recently become the Hokage, and Sasuke was in line to be his main advisor, though he was considering turning the offer down.

_"Who would want to be **his** advisor for the rest of their lives?"_

Sasuke declined a week later, with Naruto shrugging it off and asking Hinata if she would be his advisor, alongside being his wife. A month later Sasuke was given the chance to head a Genin Team, which he quickly accepted.

Two months after they were married Sakura found out she was pregnant, and Sasuke decided to use his Genin team as a means of practice. It wasn't a problem to the two girls and one boy he was teaching, they did all he said and tried to help him understand certain things Sakura had explained, but he still didn't understand after her explanation.

Their daughter was finally born at the beginning of April, with bright sea foam green eyes and pitch black hair. Sakura called her the most beautiful baby she had ever seen, and Sasuke felt the same way. He wouldn't let the tiny baby out of his sight for a month, and had even picked out her name, Shizuka. The client he was protecting with his team had given his daughter a name that started with an S as well, but Sasuke didn't take time to memorize the name.

He had his own daughter to care about at the time.

Sakura was pulled from her thoughts when she heard Shizuka let out a cry, but wasn't able to get up before Sasuke was out of the room and taking care of her.

"Hey, quiet, you'll wake your mother!"

Sakura smiled to herself as she listened to Sasuke talk to their daughter, trying to calm her. He thought she was still sleeping and didn't want Shizuka to wake her.

"Shh, I promise, your mother and I will play with you later, ok? Now, go back to sleep, Shizuka. I love you, but you need to sleep."

Sakura could just see Shizuka looking up at Sasuke with large, tear filled eyes when he sighed.

"OK, fine. Want me to tell you a story real quick? Will that work?"

Shizuka cooed, and Sasuke shook his head.

"Here, I have one. When your mom and I were sixteen-almost-seventeen, we were nowhere near each other. Your mom… well, she and I made some mistakes, but, everything worked out in the end. We became friends again, got married, and had you. Your mom is my saving grace, Shizuka. She never gave up on me, even when our friends wanted to. No matter how far I fell, she still loved me and wanted me home. And here I am."

Sasuke smiled a bit at Shizuka, who yawned and kept opening her eyes, trying to keep herself awake. He shook his head again, laying her back in her crib.

"Go to sleep. I'll tell you the whole story when you're older, ok? Love you, Shizuka."

"You know she's way too tiny to know what a mistake is, right?"

"Exactly why I said it that way."

Sakura sighed, shaking her head. "After nearly six years, I'm still your saving grace? What Shizuka?"

"She is too."

"For how long?"

Sasuke watched her, before smiling.

"Forever."

* * *

**Author's Note:** MORE OF MY HOPES AND DREAMS FOR THIS COUPLE.  
I want them to get together and have a cute little family before the series ends. :D

So, I explained everything I wanted, and did all I wanted with this little two-short.  
Do I want to do more like this?  
Perhaps. This came into my mind after I read the new chapter yesterday, and I squealed when I realized Sasuke would be showing up next week. Who doesn't want this to happen? (that is a sasusaku fan, i mean!)  
I think we're all waiting for something big and grand to happen.  
I do hope Kishimoto won't let us down. :/

See you later!


End file.
